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RESOLUTION NO. 17-a5. <br /> A RESOLUTION in support of efforts to move forward <br /> with development of a third runway <br /> at Sea-Tac International Airport. <br /> WHEREAS, the Puget Sound region is in the midst of rapid growth, with more than a million <br /> people expected to be added over the next 20-plus years to an existing population base of <br /> nearly three million; and <br /> WHEREAS, the region is home to some of the world's major exporters, high-tech firms and <br /> leading-edge corporations, such as The Boeing Co., Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser, GTE <br /> Northwest, McCaw Cellular, Nordstrom, and others, all of whom need and depend on reliable <br /> and convenient air transportation; as evidenced by the fact that Washington State leads the <br /> nation in exports per capita; and <br /> WHEREAS, over the next couple of decades, airport takeoffs and landings in our region will <br /> increase by about 54,000 per year -- or 163 flights per day; and <br /> WHEREAS, a two-runway airport, particularly one that is limited in capacity during the <br /> Northwest's frequent periods of rainy and inclement weather and has one of the nation's worst <br /> records for on-time arrivals, will be woefully inadequate to accommodate this huge increase in <br /> air travel; and <br /> WHEREAS, the idea of constructing a new supplemental airport at this time to address the <br /> need is called into serious question by airline representatives, who have said time and time <br /> again that it is not needed and will not be used; and <br /> WHEREAS, the dubious wisdom of constructing a new airport that airlines say isn't needed <br /> and won't be used is perhaps best exemplified by the Mirabel Airport in Montreal, completed <br /> in 1975 at a cost of$1 billion Canadian ($4 billion with debt and operating losses factored in) <br /> and 21 years later is a testament to closed check-in counters, nearly-empty terminals, and <br /> virtually no domestic service left, with all scheduled international flights set to be transferred <br /> to closer-in Dorval Airport; and <br /> WHEREAS, with all of these factors in mind, board members of the Puget Sound Regional <br /> Council (PSRC) -- representing a broad cross-section of 50 cities, four counties, and three port <br /> districts -- spent seven-plus years and $7-plus million analyzing how to address the region's <br /> long-term airport capacity needs; and <br />